Third Sunday after Epiphany

1/19/2024

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

In This Week's E-Pistle, You Will Find:

This Sunday's Service -- Third Sunday after Epiphany: A Word from Mother Earth
This Sunday, Welcome Church Member Rev. Linda Knieremen
Ice, Ice, Baby! A Word from our Safety and Wellness Team...
Pastoral Search Listening Sessions, New Dates
Christian Neighbors' Pantry Needs!
Tax Letters are In the Mail
Protecting One Another This Winter
Soul Collage with Ruth Zwald, January 20
Need for Volunteers on the AV Team
Birthdays & Anniversaries, Prayer Requests, Stewardship Drive & Financial Stewardship

This Week's Service: A Word From Mother Earth

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

This Sunday is a Creation Justice Sunday, when we focus our worship on the care of our our planet, our places, and our people. Join us this Sunday at 10 AM (either in-person or streaming live online) as we explore together the gift of energy and the idea of a just energy future. This Sunday, our worship leader is our church member, Rev. Linda Kniereman. Music: Peter Black and Jeff Spangler.

Download this Sunday's Online Bulletin here:

order_of_service_january_21_2024.pdf
File Size:	1055 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

This Sunday, Welcome Church Member Rev. Linda Knieremen

Rev Knieriemen, who has been attending DUCC for a year and a half, comes to us after retiring from 16 years as pastor/head of staff at the First Presbyterian Church of Holland. Previous calls included 10 years as Associate Pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids, (both churches LGBTQ+ advocates and allies) and 2 years at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City as Interim Associate Pastor. She holds degrees from both U of M’s (Minnesota and Michigan) and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. Her first career was in Nutrition and Dietetics and took her to hospitals in Des Moines and Minneapolis and motivated her to serve as a Peace Corps Health Volunteer in Fiji. Friends used to quip “once you fed bodies and now you feed souls.”

Living in Holland, Linda works a few hours a week at the Carolyn Stich Studio in Holland and volunteers for the Food Club at Community Action House. She is also a student of Russian Orthodox Iconography.' Married to David Walter for 20 years, Linda was widowed in 2020 and maintains contact with some of David’s 11 adult grandchildren. Her 7 year old Springer Spaniel, Porter, provides companionship and never-ending energy around her home.

Ice, Ice, Baby! A Word from our
Health, Wellness & Safety Team...

Our community's safety is our first concern, always. Looking at the weather forecast for the remainder of January, we're not supposed to get a break in temperatures until early next week. We will have the sidewalks and steps cleaned of snow for Sunday. However, we want everyone to be aware of persistent and patchy ice under the snow, on steps and the sidewalk.

Please be safe, aware, and careful for yourself and others around you as you enter the Church. Once again, your safety and health are our primary concerns. Peace be with you.

Rich Marth
Wendy Hamlin
Pete Mueller

Pastoral Search Listening Sessions, New Dates!

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

The weather and recent cancelations have brought with them schedule changes in the Listening Sessions run by the Pastoral Search Committee. All have been pushed back by one week. The sessions are held each week after church or as overflow/followup sessions on Monday evenings in the Friendship Hall. Sign-up sheets are available in the Friendship Hall to help the team with their planning.

All church members are encouraged to attend these sessions, where each week we explore together a different way of looking at our church and our pastoral needs.

On this coming Sunday (Jan 21) and Monday (Jan 22), we will be exploring...

What is Our Calling as a Church Community? Who is God Calling Us to Become?

How would you describe the work of DUCC? What is our Calling?
What Communities or Causes should be the focus of our ministry and outreach?
What are 5 words you would use to describe our neighbor?
How would you describe our current ministry focus? List 3-5 communities or areas of ministry that we are engaged in currently, or should be if we are not.
How would you rate the importance of our current ministry teams? On a scale from 1-7 with 1 being not important, to 7 being very important, how would you rate our….
Social Justice work
Creation Justice work
Underserved communities work
Are there areas of focus or outreach that we are not involved in now that you think we should be? What might these be?
Are there areas of ministry focus that we should consider letting go of?
Many would describe us as a socially active church. How important is it to you that members in our church are actively addressing and speaking out on the issues of the day? Rate this on a 1-7 scale.
Do you see our Work/Calling as pastor-driven or congregation-driven?

Follow Up Monday 1/22 6:30-8pm if needed at the Friendship Hall

Christian Neighbors' Pantry Needs!

Christian Neighbors of Douglas very much appreciates the on-going generosity of the Douglas UCC congregation. In addition to the February Peanut Butter drive (Coming Soon!), the Christian Neighbors Food Pantry has an on-going need for the following items:

Rice
Sugar
Flour
Vegetable Oil
Jello
Nuts – Almonds – Walnuts
Saltine Crackers
Triscuits/assorted Crackers
Bottled Water
Bar Soap, Shampoo, Toothpaste
Cat Food

If you can shop for and donate these items, please deliver Pantry Donations to Christian Neighbors, located at the south entrance of the Community Church of Douglas, 6874 Wiley Rd, Fennville, MI 49408.

In addition to the above items, monetary donations are always accepted; Either on-line at http://www.christianneighborsdouglas.org, or via Personal Check, made out to Christian Neighbors of Douglas. Also, be sure to check out the Christian Neighbors Thrift Store for gently used clothing and household items.

Pantry and Thrift Store Hours: Mon, Tue, Thur &; Fri. 9:30AM to Noon

Any questions, please contact:
Rich Marth 810-844-9865 [email protected] or
Wendy Hamlin [email protected]

Tax Letters are In the Mail

Photo by Elizaveta Kushnerenko on UnSplash

All of the year-end donor letters are in the mail, and should arrive in our mailboxes in the next week. If a letter is expected and does not arrive, please contact Julie Ridl, our church administrator, by email here.

Date Change for Soul Collage! Sessions will be held, January 20

Rev. Ruth Zwald's Soul Collage workshop sessions have been postponed from this past Saturday to THIS Saturday. If you'd like to check for open spaces, email Rev. Ruth at the email address above!

Need for Volunteers on the AV Team

We are so grateful for our many wonderful volunteers who make our Sunday Worship special each week. Right now, we need volunteers to fillout our AV team, running the camera and sound board during Sunday service. In the past few months our team has made vast improvements by standardizing the settings and streamlining the operations. If you are interested in joining our team and helping with this very important position, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Mike VerMerris, 269.325.4043, [email protected].

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Birthdays: Januaary 23- Greg Sherman, Rose Marie Stevenson, 25- Patrice Greene
Anniversaries: 21- Bob & Louise Kenny

Birthday and Anniversary cards are a great way we can reach out to one another. If you wish to mail a card to one of our church members, addresses can be found in our Church Directory.

Prayer Requests

Dan Mack; Debbink Family; David Miedema, his parents and family; Karl Fahlstrom (Tom Fahlstrom's brother); John Kerr; Mike Mok; Dave and Shirley Lawson; Clark McMillion (Chris Clark's friend); Ruth Fahlstrom (daughter of Tom Fahlstrom); Nancy Grib (Friend of Pamela Chappell); Stuart Family; Charlene Burdick (Paul Burdick's Mother); Diane Carr; Myron (Wendy Hamlin's grandson, Fred Hamilin's great-grandson); Mary Westenbroek; Brian Aikens; Jerry Elpers and family (Beth Howley's Dad); Edie Plantinga (Nancy Plantinga's mother); Joyce Potts (Ed Korson's Friend); Max Matteson; Eric Cooley (Jo Cooley's brother); Nicole and John (Wendy Hamlin's daughter-in-law and son)

Stewardship Drive

Stewardship Drive Giving Week ending January 14:
Pledges to Date = $228,800.00
Pledge Fulfillment to date = $114,436.95

Thank you to all who pledged toward our Campus Stewardship Drive. Weekly Stewardship Drive totals are posted here and on the giant ‘thermometer’ poster in the Friendship Hall. If you have not received a pledge card, you can pick one up in the Friendship Hall.

Financial Stewardship

January 14 Worship Services were canceled for winter storm,
so no collection plate this past week.

Mailed Donations: $2,580.00
Online Giving: $1,786.70
Total, General Support: $4,366.70

Thank you!!
Your generous giving allows us to sustain our church community and our mission of service in the world. Please consider giving online, which is easily done by texting your donation amount to 844-931-2849.